Cool craft: Transform paper plates into colorful fans

Diana Johnson is a recipe developer, photographer, writer and the creator of Eating Richly Even When You're Broke. She is passionate about helping people learn to cook and eat foods rich in nutrition and flavor, even on a tight budget, a...

Teach your kids how to make colorful DIY fans with paper plates

Summer's here and it is hot! At your next barbecue, kids will love to turn paper plates into watermelon slices, ladybugs and baseballs, while adults will love having their kids make them fans to beat the heat.

With just a few supplies, kids can turn paper plates into fun fans at your family summer barbecue. The watermelon slice fan is a fun painting project, the ladybug fan is easy painting and involves lots of paper cutting and the baseball fan is the simplest fan for kids who don't have the patience for a more involved craft.

Supplies:

3 white paper plates

Poster paint in red, black and green

Paintbrush

1 sheet black construction paper

1 sheet plain white paper

3 jumbo ice pop sticks

Directions:

Step 1: Paint the watermelon red

Photo credit: Diana Johnson

For the watermelon fan, cut a paper plate in half. Paint the inner circle of one half with red poster paint and let dry.

Step 2: Add watermelon seeds

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Use the tip of the paintbrush handle to paint black dots on the red part of the plate.

Step 3: Paint the watermelon rind

Photo credit: Diana Johnson

Paint the outer rim and 1 side of an ice pop stick with green paint.

Step 4: Paint the ladybug

Photo credit: Diana Johnson

For the ladybug fan, paint a paper plate and 1 side of an ice pop stick with red poster paint. Let the plate and ice pop stick dry.

Step 5: Add spots and eyes

Photo credit: Diana Johnson

Cut 4 large circles, 1 oval, 1 triangle with a rounded edge and 2 very small circles out of black construction paper and then cut 2 large circles out of white paper. Use a glue stick to attach the circles to the red plate.

Step 6: Paint the baseball

Photo credit: Diana Johnson

For the baseball fan, use the tip of the paintbrush handle to paint red dots on a plate in the curved lines of a baseball seam.

Step 7: Attach your fan handles

Photo credit: Diana Johnson

Use craft glue to attach the green ice pop stick to the watermelon, the red ice pop stick to the ladybug and the plain ice pop stick to the baseball.